Sugar, Spice and Seasonal Depression
by bitterfloof
Summary: Prompto thought he had it all worked out. Working at a winter attraction was easy money. What he didn't be on was attracting the attention of Noctis. Soon, Prompto is head over heels and Noct . . . well, he just wants to sleep. But sometimes, a little sunshine is all that is needed to chase away the winter blues.
1. Chapter 1

Note: **ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. Crossposted on AO3**

* * *

"Only two months. I will save all the money. Then maybe I'll be able to move out."

It was a mantra that Prompto kept repeating to himself every morning as he pulled on his worn out boots. It was sleeting lightly and the cold kind of sunk through them but at the same time Prompto couldn't get rid of them.

"It's only two months!"

Prompto stood and shrugged on his jacket over a hoodie. His morning mantra put him in the mood for the working day - well sort of. His 'job' was to take photos of people in a cheap attraction. The festive period was pretty much well underway, and it was just something to capitalise on the 'festive spirit' which was just another way of saying 'take some saps money who was stupid enough to pay' and despite that - a job was a job. Well, actually, it wasn't his job just yet – he still had the actual interview to get through.

"Maybe I'll buy some new camera stuff . . . No, house deposits then camera stuff," Prompto thought to himself as he paid his bus fare for the day and flopped down onto one of the uncomfortable seats. It was so easy to get distracted by other less important but more enjoyable things in life. "Two months. It's not that long at all."

It really wasn't and he just needed to get through it. Despite the job probably being a complete scam (and shady as fuck) it wasn't all bad. The day was bright, a cloudless blue sky hung overhead, decorative as it was still bitterly cold. A layer of frost clung to the branches of bare trees and as the bus rolled by them Prompto couldn't help but wish he could stop and take a picture of it - the scene was just too perfect, the way the light caught the frost, the blueness of the sky. Everything was just too perfect looking, and he was stuck going to a job interview, like an everyday poor sap.

"It's just two months."

The stall he had chosen to work at was tucked away in a corner of the large shopping centre around where there were a strange number of closed shops (and if that didn't just spell out the state of things) and Prompto had a sneaking suspicion that the stall, in its bright colours and generally large appearance, was to cover up the fact that the rest of the area was just about dead - the new 'coming soon: Food court' signs had been out forever but very little work was actually being done about it. But a job was a job, and, at the end of the day, he couldn't really complain.

He could count himself lucky, even if it was just seasonal work - a job was hard enough to come by. It looked good on the CV, that was the main thing.

"Hi, I'm here for a job interview," Prompto said cheerily to the rather sullen faced person who was already stationed at the booth. He looked at Prompto for a few moments, as though confused for a moment before shaking his head and nodding.

"Prompto, right? You did the phone interview the other week, yeah?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Oh okay, cool. Give me two minutes."

The guy rummaged around in a bag at his feet for a moment before pulling out his phone. Prompto stood, feeling a little awkward, it wasn't like he didn't know that it was a small stall - he just figured they'd be a little more prepared since they knew he was coming.

"The other guy is on a break right now, usually there is two of us, so when he comes back, I can go through the interview with you. If you want to wait in there, I'll be 5/10 minutes."

He gestured to the only open thing in the 'coming soon: food court', which was a coffee stand with a separate seating area inside one of the empty shops. Sitting in one of the seats in the back corner, he couldn't help but hope that nobody told him to move since it was technically part of the coffee stand and he hadn't bought anything.

After what felt like an age, the guy from before joined Prompto in the seating area, coffee in hand.

"Sorry that took so long."

"It's fine," Prompto replied, internally a little miffed - but at the same time, he didn't expect much more.

"Okay, so . . ." the guy proceeded to go over everything about the job, hours, expectations and so on. It was all standard stuff, most of which Prompto had been told before over the phone. "So yeah, that's all. Can you start next week? Next Monday if possible?"

"Yeah, that would be fine."

Despite knowing that he was basically walking into a job, Prompto couldn't help but be quite happy at the fact. Not so much at the job itself, but rather just at the prospect of making money that was his and his alone for the next two months. Not too bad.

"Great, I'll see you next Monday then."

And with that, the guy was gone leaving Prompto in the mostly empty seating area with a feeling of quiet elation.

* * *

It was his phone going off that woke Noctis up, which was the craziest thing since, on a good day, he could sleep through pesky phone alarms.

"'lo?" Noctis mumbled, sitting up and running a hand through his hair.

"Good afternoon," it was Ignis.

"It's not . . . " Noct took the phone away from his ear to look at the time in the corner. "Okay, afternoon." He could hear the brief half-laughter that Ignis let out, typical.

"Sorry to wake you but it was to remind you that you have a job interview later, and as much as I know you would rather spend the first day of your holidays asleep, a job interview is much more important."

Noct was only half listening, it wasn't that he was trying to be rude or anything, he was just tired. The last couple of weeks had been a sea of studying and essays and exams - he just wanted one day to lie in knowing that he didn't need to go into university to look something up in the library or study. But nope, even on his holidays, he couldn't have that.

"I know, I do remember. But it's nor for another 3 hours," Noct replied.

"You need the next 3 hours to wake up."

Noct might have been annoyed if Iggy wasn't so damn right.

"Mhm, thanks for the wake up call."

"You're welcome, I'll be around later tonight. Good day to you and good luck."

"Yeah, thanks. See you later."

Hanging up, Noct flipped back onto his bed. He probably could have gone back to sleep, but Iggy was probably right - it would take him about 3 hours to pull himself together enough that he didn't loom a complete wreck for the job interview.

It wasn't even like it was that important, it was just some dumb part time seasonal job to get him by and earn a little extra money on the side. A little extra money would be nice though, then he wouldn't have to worry about subway fares for at least the next few months.

After lying back on his bed, Noct eventually pushed himself up and pulled on his pyjama bottoms, venturing out into his apartment in search of some . . . well, brunch in an effort to wake himself up a bit more.

"Why did I agree for it to be on the first day of my holidays," Noct thought to himself as he poured himself some cereal - not exactly the most filling but he couldn't face the idea of anything else. Flopping down onto the couch, mindful of his cereal, he turned on the TV trying to find something to occupy his time before he dragged himself up to try and be a functional human being for a few hours.

It was harder than most people thought - adulting was hard.

Was it too late to cancel? Just not show up. No, he'd never hear the end of it if he flaked out. Dropping the empty bowl in the sink, Noct crossed into his bedroom. How was he even meant to dress? He'd been to functions and stuff in the past, but they were super fancy do's - not just a job interview. On top of that, 60% of what he owned was black (basically a walking funeral look) which was fine enough but not exactly dressy.

Why did nobody ever teach him how to dress for different occasions - actually, that was a lie, he had been brought up knowing the basics of being a presentable human being. Being tired and generally annoyed just caused all thoughts from Noctis's brain to exit until he was left with one barely functioning brain cell.

"Fuck it," he thought pulling the only light blue shirt he owned from his wardrobe and yesterday's still clean jeans from the floor. That was the best the world was going to do.

Checking his phone, he still had half an hour before he had to leave but it would give him time to toddle rather than worry about being late - Ignis's insistence on being early despite everything might have just rubbed off on him after all. Maybe that was a good thing.

Making sure he had everything, Noct left his apartment - still half asleep and barely prepared for what was effectively his first job interview ever in his life. The very thought seemed to carry a lot of weight with it that Noctis didn't appreciate. It wasn't that he didn't know it would happen eventually - he just sort of wished he hadn't been basically bullied into it. Still, he knew it would be a good thing at the end of the day.

As much as he hated to admit it.

Everything would be fine. Just fine.

* * *

"I'm home!" Prompto called as he slipped off his shoes in the doorway.

"How was it then?" His dad, Garret, asked crossing from the kitchen into the living room.

Prompto sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's a job. I mean," he let out a little gasp. "I really hope I don't have to work with the same guy all the time. Just one of those people, y'know. Like. Kinda clearly not wanting that job."

"Well if it gets you through," Garret laughed. "You'll learn to ignore or mock the worst people you work with."

Prompto could only agree since, honestly, he had no other way of knowing whether that was true or not. Well, in fairness, it was kind of the same in university, the ones who were generally the most obnoxious frequently were made fun of behind their backs - childish? Perhaps. But that was just the way it was.

Following Garret into the living room Prompto spared a glance at the cases that were stacked against the wall, his mum was rummaging through a separate bag, pulling things out then putting them back before huffing lightly.

"You finished packing?" Prompto asked curiously since it was hard to tell.

"I'd like to think so, but you know your mum. She has to jeep checking that something hasn't gone missing or she's forgotten something. It's mad if you ask me," Garret whispered the last part to his son, both of them trying to stifle laughter as Riona threw up a silencing finger.

"Don't you laugh at me boys, you'll be the one complaining if we do forget something vital," Riona ceased looking through the bag to stand, cross the short distance to Prompto to pull him in, a not very, reluctant hug, holding his face gently in her hands. "Now are you sure you don't want to come with us. It's not too late you know."

Prompto smiled. "No, it's fine. I just got a job after all and it's for your wedding anniversary, you go enjoy yourself and hopefully the weather will be better than what we'll no doubt get here."

Both his parents watched him very carefully for a few moments, glancing between each other in a silent argument.

"Well, if you're sure."

Honestly, he was surer about staying home alone over the holidays than he had been for a while - no disrespect against his parents, but Prompto was more than ready to just have a month or so to himself. Even if he would be spending that time working - it was the idea of being virtually independent whilst also not being entirely independent at the same time.

Wasn't like he was going to go crazy or anything -parties weren't exactly his thing.

"Honestly. It'll be fine. You're worrying over nothing. The holiday will fly by, you'll be back in no time and you can tell me all about it "

The look across his mum's face still yelled 'but you're still my baby, I'm not ready to leave you alone for two months on your own' - despite the fact that Prompto was definitely able to look after himself. He had a job and enough money saved to get by, it was going to be great. At least that's what he kept telling himself to stage off a weird feeling that kept creeping over himself whenever he thought about being left alone. He hadn't quite worked out whether it was a good or bad feeling yet.

"Are you 100% sure?"

"Yes. It's not like I can just leave a job I've just started. You won't need to worry about a thing."

Exiting the conversation, Prompto headed back into his room, eyeing the camera on his bed. Despite having just come in - he had the sudden urge to go back out since he hadn't been able to earlier. Checking the battery was at least half full, he slipped it into his camera bag along with an extra lens before heading out again, shouting a quick bye to his parents.

The day hadn't warmed much from earlier and the frost and ice was still a prominent feature. Since it was already past midday Prompto didn't want to go too far from home, instead he wandered to a nearby park. It wasn't exactly the most amazing place but there was a river that cut through the place that had carved a deep gorge over time.

Walking down the path, careful not to slip down the narrow, leaf dampened stairs, Prompto followed the river along to an overhang where icicles were forming - to Prompto it didn't feel as though it should have been cold enough to have icicles forming. But hey, what did he know about the weather.

Eventually the sun began to set and the cold was very quickly turning his hands blue, Prompto began to walk back home. By the time he made it there the sky had darkened a small wind had picked up which blew bitterly through Prompto's jacket. Unlocking the door through shaking hands, the place was quiet and dark when he let himself inside.

"Hey, we went out for dinner. Will be back later tonight."

Rolling his eyes, Prompto walked through to his room and flopped down on his bed, unzipping his camera bag and going through the pictures he had taken of the icicles, the frost adorning the evergreen trees, ice breaking up on the small waterfall.

Prompto pushed himself up after a while as his stomach complained about the lack of food (he had conveniently forgotten to eat lunch). Not bothering to cook anything, he ordered something online before turning on music in his room and uploading the pictures onto his laptop.

* * *

"So you have any experience before this?"

"Um, no. I don't."

"That's fine, you'll get all the training you need in the first few weeks. After that, it just should become a habit."

Noct knew for a fact that something becoming a habit was definitely not something his body knew how to do. Unless it was sleeping - he was good at that. But he nodded dumbly along trying to seem as easy-going and appealing as possible. He was always told he had a natural confidence which was why people were drawn to him but Noct always felt out of his depth for some reason. He didn't feel confident despite being told that was how he came off.

Just because he was told something, didn't mean it was true.

"So you can start next week. Yeah."

The job interview went surprisingly well despite Noct having nearly been late to it despite having left early into order to not be late (if Iggy found out, he'd probably be dead) but the interviewer was very nice about the whole thing - probably helped that she was maybe only a year or two older than Noct himself.

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Great." The enthusiasm radiating off her, however, was something Noct was going to have to get used to, and dealing with people, and getting up early and just not having every moment to himself - why had he bothered to get a job again. Oh, it looked good on his CV and as experience, that's why. A simple, bullshit reason. "I'll see you on Monday then."

He had a whole week of freedom before diving into the world of work for the first time - oh joy.

Walking away from the interview, Noct pulled out his phone and sent a quick text off to Iggy.

"Got the job, woo."

It didn't take long for his phone to start ringing and Noct was half tempted to ignore it but he was going to see Iggy later anyway - if not the moment he got home - so it would be a pointless endeavour. Stopping and pushing himself against the wall in order to be out of the way for all the other people going past.

"Hey."

"How did it go then?"

"Yeah, fine. I mean they gave me the job so it has to mean something," Noct replied knowing full well that was a lie as all places were looking for extra, disposable, staff during the holidays and he was just one if many. "I start next week."

"That's good, you'll need to tell me more about it. I've got to go, I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you later."

Standing for a few moments, an odd feeling came over him and he wasn't quite sure what it was. Dread? Fear? Something else entirely? Whatever it what, Noct didn't like it. It was like he knew something was going to happen, but he wasn't 100% sure what or why he suddenly felt so unsure.

A little part of him wanted to go back and tell whoever was in charge, no, he didn't want the job and then go home and hibernate until spring came. But, no, that was not how life worked and as much as he hated it. He had to start adulting a little harder at some point.

Maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

* * *

**Stayed tuned for part 2  
****Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

* * *

"Okay everyone, big smiles now. Just like you would have out playing in the snow."

His co-worker nodded towards Prompto who turned on small blowers to whip up the fake snow to cry and create some appearance of falling snow. It was a kind of joke of a job, was easy enough though - take photos of a dumb snow globe attraction for the festive period. It was mostly families who wanted snowy, happy looking cards for family and friends. Especially since they happened to live in a country that got no snow, even in winter.

"This job is so simple. Any idiot could do it."

"Are you saying I'm an idiot?" Prompto asked, the dislike for his co-worker, his name was Lydus or something like that, completely bottoming out. He looked up suddenly, as though not realising that he had said.

"Eh, what. No, sorry. I'm just saying. Face it, you know as well as I do this is a complete scam and anybody who actually falls for it is stupid," the guys face was bright red as he tried to backpedal his previous statement and turn it around into something positive - it wasn't really working and Prompto had a feeling that he wasn't really going to get on well with the guy.

"Well those stupid people pay our wages; I don't think you can complain too much."

The conversation was cut short as some people showed up, actually wanting to get their photos taken and Prompto was relegated to watching how his bitchy co-worker did everything. It was mostly a case of telling people where to sit or how to act and to look happier. Simple.

Prompto had the job for only around a week and had already got used to standing up for his entire shift (for some reason the stupid pop up stand couldn't even provide chairs for its employees) and dealing with the other torn faced employees. It wasn't exactly ah he would call fun, but it was also only two months and to be paid pretty decently for doing almost nothing all day, he couldn't exactly complain that much about it all.

It was kind of boring between customers has, he had been strictly told not to have his phone out since they needed to look as approachable as possible and sitting on his phone would have been unacceptable. Not that either of the pair stuck to that rule and between customers, both sat scrolling since they weren't up for talking to each other.

"Hey, fancy getting us something to drink," Lydus asked Prompto after a while of them sitting about doing nothing.

"Oh, okay." Lydus handed him some money, pointed to the small coffee stand and told Prompto what he wanted before going back and staring into space.

It really wasn't what he was expecting from the job, a lot more photo taking was involved, still he was getting paid for doing very little - why was there any reason to be disappointed. Sure his co-worker might have been a little questionable . . . Naff, but it wasn't all bad.

Trying to keep his slight disappointment and annoyance inside, Prompto walked over to the coffee place repeating the order in his brain. He knew what he wanted but the other order had been thrown at him so fast that it really hadn't stuck. Still, it would be the guys own fault for not just doing it himself or generally being nicer about the whole situation.

"Hi, what can I get you."

Prompto rhymed off the orders to the cashier, his eyes drifting to the few staff behind the counter who looked equally as bored as he felt in his job. At least he wasn't the only one, though they all looked bored with customers – Prompto at least had an excuse to look bored shitless since he, for the most part, didn't have much to do in work.

Except for being bored shitless.

Moving down the queue and looking towards the seating adjacent from the stand, Prompto couldn't help but wish he could just sit down there for a little while instead of having to stand around all day – but no, just in case one of the managers chose to show their faces (which was highly unlikely) they had to stand there for however long his shift ended up being.

"Here's your order."

Prompto snapped back to reality, looking up at who had addressed him. Noct looked miles too tired to be there, definitely past bored and before he could stop himself;

"Having fun?"

Noct looked confused. "What?"

Prompto mentally cringed.

"Uhm, sorry. You just looked a little . . ." he trailed off, shouldn't have bothered saying anything. Would have saved him the embarrassment of trying to start a conversation with a stranger who clearly didn't want to be spoken to.

"Bored . . ." Noct dropped his voice. "A little. But you're not allowed to say."

Prompto couldn't help but laugh, nodding. "Yeah, I'll say. I'm working at the photography place and . . . you wouldn't imagine how boring it is."

The guy nodded before opening his mouth to talk –

"Hey, Noct."

Noct whipped around and walked over leaving Prompto alone. Picking up his drinks, he walked back to the stall, handing one of Lydus. At least he definitely wasn't the only one in the world who was bored and already 100% done with their job – it was a comfort.

* * *

Noct really couldn't with his job – he'd had it for all of a week or so and already wanted to quit. People were rude and pushy, demanding too much and then annoyed as heck when things went wrong. Noct wasn't cut out for working with people as he had discovered – at the end of every shift he just wanted to murder at least one person. Usually, some Karen who was just that extra bit demanding that just pushed a bit too far or a bit too hard or just generally was rude.

Yeah, it wasn't fun.

He much preferred being on till duty, that way he wasn't the responsible one when things went wrong since all he had to do was take money and tell the order to whoever was making them. Plus, he got yelled at way less when somebody got the wrong order.

"Hey Noct, go for your break the now. Ainsley will take over."

He didn't bother replying as he signed off the till and headed into the back, hanging up his apron and grabbing his bag to look at his phone. There wasn't any point in going far since all he had was half an hour to do nothing so instead, he went and sat at the seating are for the place, tucking himself into a corner out of the way. It was actually surprisingly busy since more people were now out and about, getting presents and hiding from the cold outside. There were only a few tables available, flopping down into one of the empty ones – Noct began scrolling through notifications on his phone, pretending he didn't have to go back to work in half an hour.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit here."

Noct looked up at the person who spoke to him – the same blonde who had tried to crack a joke the other week when he was 100% not checked in mentally.

"Sure . . ." he was a little confused to as why, but a quick glance around confirmed his suspicions. It was simply the last seat left in the place – it was really busy. Probably the busiest it had been in a long time. Prompto sat, pulling his own phone out the and pair sat in silence, each absorbed in their own digital worlds. Eventually, growing bored with scrolling, Noct booted up the only game on his phone, idly going through notifications and playing some casual rounds – it wasn't for a little while that he looked up and caught the eye of his tablemate. It could have just been a coincidence that they happened to look up at the exact same time – but something told Noct that it couldn't be the case . . . was he being watched?

At the same time Noct noticed Prompto looking at him, Prompto noticed the same thing, choosing then to look away which only served to raise Noct's suspicions that he was, in fact, being watched – which totally wasn't creepy at all. No, not at all.

"Sorry," Prompto said quickly and Noct frowned.

"Why?"

"I was . . . I play too." Prompto gestured to Noct's phone and smiled sheepishly. Noct nodded, more to confirm his own suspicions. He didn't mind that Prompto had been watching him, it actually made him feel better that he had admitted it since it would be way less awkward than him denying it and then leaving Noct with the feeling that he was being watched without any confirmation.

It was a whole thing.

"You should add me," Prompto said holding up his phone and smiling brightly. "Doesn't hurt to have more friends on there right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess." Noct definitely wasn't expecting that but went along with it anyway because it really didn't mean all that much in the long run. Plus, it made Prompto smile and for some reason, even in the short time that they had been sharing a table, Noct found himself somewhat enamoured with the blonde's smile – it was so easy and effortless. Not like his own, which, even when genuine, seemed a little forced.

He just wasn't the most smiley of people.

"Ah shit," Prompto exclaimed suddenly catching Noct off guard. "Better get back to work, eh."

"Oh, yeah . . ." Noct replied, he was nearly done with his break too – honestly if he could just go home that would be great but sadly, he had another few hours of work. Which honestly kind of sucked, hopefully it wouldn't be terrible. A thought suddenly struck Noct as his table mate began to walk away. "What's your name?"

"Oh . . . Prompto."

"I'm Noctis."

Prompto smiled and nodded before disappearing back to taking photos of people in a fake snow globe - god it was a gaudy thing to have to look at all day since it was basically directly in front of the coffee stand. But at the same time, it was fun, in a weird totally non-stalkerish way, to watch Prompto be totally in his element. Taking photos and interacting with people, instructing them on how to act or whatever it was. Making kids smile or something like that. Activities that Noct would never be able to do - he didn't hate people so much as could do without them.

Working in the coffee stall was more than enough stranger interaction. Still, it did make the rest of the day pass somewhat faster which wasn't a bad thing at all.

* * *

There were a few upsides to the job as Prompto discovered – one was that a lot of the time, his shifts were very short, on the 4 to 5 hour range and sometimes less depending on how busy it had been (which usually wasn't very with people only coming around every now and again – which got really tedious after a short while). It wasn't often that Prompto had a later shift – well as late at 6pm was – so it was a little unusual to be heading towards the bus station in the dark rather than in the middle of the afternoon where it was still somewhat bright out.

Just was Prompto finished setting everything down for the night, he noticed Noct heading away from his work. Shoving last things into his back, Prompto jogged after Noct calling his name. Noct, who apparently was lost in his own world, jumped when he heard his name being called but still paused when he saw Prompto running towards him.

"That you done for the day as well?" Prompto asked cheerily.

"Uh, yeah," Noct replied a little lamely, Prompto could clearly see the bags under his eye and couldn't help but think that he could do with some more sleep. "Were you working long?"

"From around 3 today, the other guy finished early for once. What about you?"

"Oh, um, I started at 12. Was asked to come in early . . ."

The conversation kind of trailed off after that, lapsing into a little silence. "You heading this way?" Prompto kind of gestured towards the direction of the bus station.

"Yeah I am."

"Cool I'll walk down with you."

Noct didn't really have any way to reject the idea or any reason to for that matter – so the two set off through the nearly deserted shopping centre towards the bus station. The longer opening hours hadn't quite kicked in yet which both Prompto – who couldn't imagine being stuck at the stall for longer than 6pm – and Noct – who generally didn't want to work if he could help it – was not exactly looking forward to.

And that was on top of the shitty weather and darkness and other general unpleasantries about winter.

Prompto kept his more or less one sided conversations pretty light, work, weather and the game he and Noct now played mutually on their phones. After all, it was only a few minutes' walk and there was nothing Prompto hated more than anything was awkward silence – he couldn't help it.

"What bus do you get home?"

"Sorry?"

"What bus is it you get home?" Prompto repeated.

"Oh, I don't get the bus, I get the subway, I live up the back of town."

Prompto nodded. "That's fine."

The two continued to walk in silence a little bit more, Prompto pulling out his phone to scroll through things that he had missed throughout his shift and replying to any messages he had got. Stepping outside Prompto looked up at the sky, the clouds covered the stars and a slight wind blew through his jacket - Prompto shivered and sighed.

"Why is winter so cold and depressing."

"I dunno, but I wish it wasn't," Noct replied offhand, shoving his hands deep in his jacket pockets as though the weather itself had deeply offended him in some way (which, a lot of time, it felt like it really had - especially during the winter).

"Have you ever seen the video of the guy ranting about the weather, but it just kind of devolves into a rant about society and stuff, it's pretty funny," Prompto offered as they walked around the building towards the subway entrance and the bus stop.

"I don't think I have."

"I'll send it to you when I get home," Prompto said smiling, they had reached the steps down to the subway. "Do you have messenger?"

"No, I don't really use social media, to be honest," Noctis replied looking a little sheepish under the harsh lights of the subway entrance. "I can give you my number, I use a messaging app. You can send me it over that."

"Oh yeah okay."

The two swapped numbers before Prompto watched Noctis disappear down the steps of the subway with a small wave. The blonde then proceeded to run down the street towards his bus stop as it drove by as he stood about adding Noctis' name to his contacts.

Having to run for a bus was probably one of Prompto's least favourite things to do – he was 100% convinced that the driver would watch anybody who was running and then move just as they came up to the doors. He had no particular reason as to why but maybe the bus drivers needed some sort of mad kicks and it was their form of revenge for having to deal with the general disruptive public.

Blessedly, for once, he managed to make it to the bus without it driving away on him and when he was seated, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that it had wi-fi on board. Not particularly good wi-fi but enough that he could send Noct the video ahead of when he said he could (yay technology).

Prompto: [18:34] Thus bus had wi-fi!

Prompto: [18:34] The* xD

Prompto: [18:37] This was the video I was talking about

He quickly inserted the link and sent it to Noctis, he somewhat figured that his conversation partner might not have wi-fi and wouldn't be able to watch it, or just wouldn't reply to him at all. After all, Prompto knew not everybody had their phones out all the time and half expected it to be in maybe a day or to that he would get a response.

He was wrong, a few moments later he could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out he opened the messaging app.

Noctis: [18:40] Very funny

Noctis: [18:41] Hnestly a bit of a mood

Laughing to himself, because, honestly, Noctis was 100% correct, he typed out a quick reply to the message.

Prompto: [18:43] I know rightQ

Prompto: [18:44] Right* FFs xD Cant write, keep getting bumped about

Which was true enough, for some reason the driver of the bus seemed intent on dipping into every pothole on the road causing Prompto to be jostled around furiously as he tried to type anything on his phone (autocorrect might have come in handy).

Noctis: [18:46] I'm currently squished

Attached was a picture of the window of the subway that Prompto could just make out Noctis's figure squished between two other people on the seats, his facial expression was a little difficult to make out properly but if Prompto was to take a wild guess – he would assume Noct was pretty miffed about being squished into a small space.

Noctis [18:47]: I was sitting here first, they decided to sit even though there is barely enough space x_x

Prompto let out a laugh, looking around quickly to make sure nobody was staring at him – but there were only a few other people on the bus and most of them were staring into space or had headphones in, oblivious to other noises outside their sphere. So it was all fine.

Prompto: [18:49] Aw man, can't say I envy you

Noctis: [18:51] I feel like a sardine x_x

Prompto: [18:51] You got many more stops?

Noctis: [18:53] Nah, just the 2 blessedly

Prompto: [18:54] That's not too bad

Noctis: [18:56] You nearly home

Prompto: [18:57] No, got half an hour or so left. Not bad, nice and quiet

For the most part, Prompto didn't mind not living in town and having to get the bus in for his job, it wasn't that long a bus ride and the route he got always emptied out about halfway through since his stop was one of the last.

But at the same time, in the dark and the cold, it felt like much longer going home and he couldn't wait to be indoors with the heating on and not needing to go out again for the night. So, there was that to look forward too.

Noctis: [18:57] That's good . . . I think

Noctis: [18:58] You gonna do much this evening?

Prompto: [19:00] Probably catch on stuff I recorded . . . or sleep xD Got a day off tomorrow which is nice. You?

Noctis: [19:01] Sleep, definetly sleep. You're lucky to have a day off. Wish I did

He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face

Prompto: [19:01] When is your next day off?

Noctis: [19:03] Not for a couple of days, wednesday or thurday I thonk

Noctis: [19:03] Think*

For some small reason, the fact that Noct chose to correct think rather than Thursday entertained him. No particular reason why, it just did.

Prompto: [19:05] I wish I had a day off midweek rather than at the beginning. Long weekends are kind of evil

Noctis: [19:06] Any day off is a good day off

Prompto: [19:07] Yeah, I suppose that's true

Prompto: [19:07] I shouldn't complain too much xD

He stopped getting any messages from Noct after that and Prompto assumed that he probably had got off the subway and was heading home. He didn't mind, pocketing his phone again, Prompto stared out of the window for the rest of the way home. In the dark he forgot where the bus went through and everything looked much more ominous with only the streetlights lighting up small parts of the road and paths.

Eventually, the bus got to his stop and Prompto walked the short five minutes between it and his home, it was much windier and colder than it had been in town and he couldn't help but be thankful he was only a short distance otherwise he would have been way more pissed about the weather and the cold in general.

Once safe inside from the cold, Prompto pulled his jacket off, taking his phone from his pocket and setting it on top of the shoe rack. After hanging up his jacket, he noticed his phones message light flashing at him.

Noctis [19:15]: You're allowed to complain. What else are we meant to do all day?

Prompto laughed and couldn't help but think that he had made some sort of strange progress that day.

* * *

**Stayed tuned for part 3  
****Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

* * *

Prompto and Noct fell into a routine of messaging each other quite a lot, it was easy since even though they didn't work in the same place they worked in such close quarters that it just so happened that they served quite a few of the same people – and as the pair had discovered, people were a lot less or a lot nicer depending on the activity.

Waiting in a long line of cold, now often damp, individuals for their very specific coffee order made people way less agreeable and pleasant to be around.

"Why can't people just be less fucking rude," Noct complained. "They're going to get their order, but there were people before them with way less complicated things to make. Who sees a huge queue and decides to order the most complicated drink on the menu? Honestly!" He let out a long sigh. "Remind me to never work with the public again. I can't handle it."

Gladio, who had received the brunt of Noct's complaining, nodded knowingly but couldn't help but laugh at Noct's – perhaps not – exaggerated annoyance of the general public. It might have just been the winter season, but people were definitely a lot more rude in the winter – the holidays just seemed to bring the worst out in people (so much for being the season of love, forgiveness and well wishing to every man).

"Aren't you going to be working with the public once you've finished university?" Gladio asked.

"No, international relations just means working with other people. Not so much the public, but like, other politicians and liaisons and whatnot."

Gladio nodded. "Hate to break it to you, but you're going to be dealing with stupid people your entire life. Even politicians can be stupid – you should know that."

Noct rolled his eyes – Gladio wasn't wrong, even within his university course the amount of amazingly dumb people he had come across was staggering. Maybe it was compounded by the fact that there were just a lot of political ideas being thrown around – at times, it just made Noct want to scream. He wasn't so much looking to become a politician, it just so happened that international relations had a section that looked at political liaisons and it just brought out the worst in people.

Much like the festive period apparently.

Regardless, he was very happy to have the next month and a half off and away from all that – well kind of. It was like walking from one minefield into another. Except it wasn't student fighting about politics, it was fully grown adults complaining how their drink wasn't made correctly. Despite that, the time off was nice and being able to spend time with his friends since he didn't always get to see them during the semester between how much he had to study and the different placements he had to complete.

"Who's Prompto?"

Noct and Gladio had just been hanging out in Noct's living room, watching stupid videos online and gaming – he had completely lost track of where his phone was and ignored when it went off thinking it was an alarm he had forgot to turn off.

"Just somebody," Noct replied lightly. He might have been close to Gladio but he certainly wasn't above not telling him everything that went on. Plus, so far, Prompto was just somebody – they had been messaging back and forth for a few days and met up when their breaks lined up correctly but Noct didn't know if they could be called friends (admittedly he had a bit of a hard time working out things like that) so it was much easier than trying to explain the whole situation. "What is he saying?"

"He's wondering when you're next working. Is he somebody you work with then?" Gladio replied handing the phone to Noct who quickly opened the phone and replied to the message without looking back at Gladio. "Well?"

"Hm? Oh, no, he's not."

Noct set the phone aside and went back to scrolling through videos on his laptop that was hooked up to his TV – completely oblivious to the look that Gladio was giving to the back of his head. It was only after a few moments had passed did Noct look around to face Gladio and rolled his eyes at his expression.

"What is it?"

"If he's not a co-worker then who is he."

Noct gaped at Gladio's stupid smile for a moment before turning back to the TV and offhandedly saying. "He's just somebody."

"Somebody who?"

Noct tried to contain the groan that was building – of course Gladio wouldn't let it go and not in a concerned way, he was just messing with Noct because he could and would continue to do so until Noct caved. But he was determined to not do so since he didn't feel like sharing everything for once in his life. He cared for and trusted Gladio deeply and normally would be happy to share whatever with him – but for some reason the budding friendship he had going was off limits.

And still, Gladio wouldn't let up, instead acting half his age and every two seconds repeating the same question of 'who's Prompto?' until it began to grate deeply on Noct's nerves (and he would normally say he had a high tolerance for stupid bullshit – especially working in public service for the last few weeks).

"You're really not going to let this go, are you?" Noct finally snapped.

"Not until you tell me who Prompto is exactly."

Noct rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling in disbelief – his friends were the absolute worst (at times). Sitting back up, he narrowed his eyes towards Gladio who only smirked back in clear enjoyment of the situation.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Noct questioned, a little salty over being badgered into talking by sheer annoyance – apparently his bullshit tolerance wasn't as high as he thought it was.

"I am," Gladio replied. "So, who's Prompto?"

Noct rolled his eyes – he'd have some semblance of privacy one day in his life. Maybe not any time soon, but someday. One day.

That would be a blessing.

"He works as this photography stand and comes by work during his breaks and we hang out if your breaks happen to be at the same time, we started talking a week or so ago because we played the same game on our phones and then I gave him my number because he wanted to send me a video and since then we've just been talking," Noct paused. "There, you happy?"

There was silence and Gladio nodded, which Noct took as a sign that he was satisfied with the answer that he had been given – but then he opened his mouth again. Because of course there had to be a comment, there was always a comment (snarky or not) and it just made Noct roll his eyes.

After all, his friends were the absolute worst.

"So is this like, flirtatious texting?"

Noct actually did a second take – it wasn't exactly the comment he was expecting. He was expecting something more along of the lines of how it was funny he had made friends with a literal stranger over the people he worked with. But of course it had to be something very left field which completely threw Noct off.

Because of course it did.

The idea of flirting hadn't exactly crossed Noct's mind at all – mostly he was just too tired to think, sleeping or working and when he did message Prompto it was 50% mutually bitching about their respective jobs or sending videos or memes back and forth. Was that considered flirting? Noct honestly had no idea. If he was bad at knowing when to consider people friends – he was even at understanding if somebody was flirting with him.

Suffice to say, Noct was a little oblivious.

"What? No!" He back peddled. "I don't think so . . . I have no idea."

"What do you talk about?"

"Work, gaming . . . sending videos and memes to each other. Is that considered flirting because I have no idea."

Gladio was holding in laughter at the way Noct seemed to go back and forth in his brain, he could tell Noct's mind was going 100 miles a minute in an attempt to comprehend the situation and Gladio honestly felt a little bad for him. He didn't mean to send his friend into a tailspin of confusion.

"I was just messing with you Noct, no need to get so freaked out," Gladio laughed as Noct stared at him wide eyed – expression shifting between confused annoyed. "It's good that you're making friends with people. Sorry to make you overthink things there."

Gladio was still laughing to himself as once more Noct rolled onto his back to stare at his ceiling – his friends really were the absolute worst at times.

* * *

Unsurprisingly after a week or so alone, Prompto began to find himself getting a little lonely. For the first couple of days it was nice to just have the place to himself, but eventually there was only so much browsing the internet that could be done as a distraction. Sure, working meant that he was out of the house for most of the day and taking photos on the few days off passed some of the time – but still. On top of that, taking photos without anybody to show them just wasn't the same.

**Prompto** [14:01]: What you up to?

**Noctis** [14:04]: Not much, off the day. Just kind of vegetating. You?

**Prompto** [14:08]: Went out taking photos today, you wanna see?

**Noctis** [14:09]: Yeah okay

The photos weren't what Prompto would call the most amazing things he had taken, winter, whilst it could be fun to take photos in, didn't always lead to the best looking stuff since everything was very dead or in various shades of brown or grey. Not the most inspirational really, but Prompto tried his best. He had made his way down to the river where a tree had been uprooted and fallen mostly into the river – since it had frosted over the whole picture had a distinctly blue tinge to it which gave Prompto otherworldly vibes for some reason. So he remained happy with it overall.

**Noctis** [14:12]: Those are pretty cool

**Prompto** [14:13]: Thanks ^_^

**Noctis** [14:15]: You been doing photography long? I can't do anything artistic to save my life x_x Can't even draw a stick figure

**Prompto** [15:17]: haha, I've been doing photography since I was a kid. Tho I wouldn't exactly call it photography back then, just like taking photos of random stuff I saw

**Prompto** [15:18]: And don't worry I can't draw either - I just have a good eye for . . . things I guess xD

It was true too, Prompto really couldn't draw that well. Passively so, if and onlooker were to see it they might have some idea of what he was trying to draw. Photography however, was something he always had an affinity for - there was just something oddly peaceful about the practise. That a moment of time could easily be captured and reserved - some of the most important parts of history had been captured in photography.

It might have been something deep like that which drew Prompto to the hobby or it might have been some other reason - he hadn't quite worked it out yet. Either way, he definitely enjoyed taking pictures of basically anything over other artistic pursuits - like drawing.

**Noctis** [14:18]: Still a better eye than me

Prompto rolled his eyes – he might have been wrong but Noct surely had to have some sort of artistic talent, most people did . . . not that Prompto knew. So either he was just saying that to make Prompto feel better about himself or he genuinely thought he was devoid of all creative talent.

**Prompto** [14:19]: You ever tried?

It never hurt to ask.

**Noctis** [14:22]: Not really, I've taken photos and stuff but never like intentionally for artistic purposes I guess

**Prompto** [14:24]: We should go out and take photos together at some point - see if you actually do have some artistic talent ^_^

Prompto, in his experience, found that people generally found they were good at something when they had tried it (what a novel concept) - photography was maybe on the easier side of creativity since it didn't need much to make it look good. Sure, you could have all the best cameras and lenses and whatnot - but at the end of the day, a good picture could be easily taken on a phone.

All Noct had to do was try.

**Noctis** [14:27]: trust me, I have the artistic talent of I dunno . . . a fridge?

**Prompto** [14:29]: Can't say that when you never tried

**Noctis** [14:31]: I suppose . . . when you next free then?

**Prompto** [14:34]: Really?! I was half kidding but hey if you're up for it?

Prompto was a little taken back - he didn't think Noct would actually take him up on his offer. He genuinely was mostly kidding when he said they should do some photography together - not many people would want to go out in December to take pictures. Prompto knew himself that he was just a little bit mad in that regard (after all, he consistently went running even when it was raining or snowing. He drew the line at hailstones) and didn't care if he had mud up to his knees from crouching down to try and get the best shot he could.

It was kind of nice though, that Noct was taking him up on his (previously) fake offer - it wasn't often Prompto came across people who actually gave a shit about his hobby, besides his parents who only spared a fleeting half glance, he'd tried to talk about it with his co-worker but they were as uninterested in befriending Prompto as they were in their work. So, it was nice and a little different that Noct was actually engaging!

**Noctis** [14:36]: Yeah, I don't mind. Could be fun

**Prompto** [14:37]: Awesome!

**Noctis** [14:39]: When do you want to set this up for?

**Prompto** [14:40]: I'm off at the Friday and weekend for once, what about you?

**Noctis** [14:42]: I'm free friday? That good for you?

**Prompto** [14:43]: yeah that's totally fine. Got any ideas?

**Noctis** [14:46]: Um . . . I'm literally just around the corner from the botanic gardens if that's of any interest?

**Prompto** [14:47]: Ohh~ I'm not been there in years! Yeah that'll be great!

**Noctis** [14:58]: Cool

**Prompto** [14:59]: Cool!

Dropping his phone down beside him, Prompto flopped back onto his bed. It sounded sad if he said it out loud - but it had been kind of a while since he hung out with somebody. Sure, he had . . . acquaintances in university but they weren't what Prompto could call a friend . . . could he call Noctis a friend?

Where did the line between a friend and an acquaintance end and begin?

Prompto had no idea. It was confusing and a little bit exciting at the same time. He could only imagine the conversation when his parents came back from their holidays; 'oh hey, what did you do whilst we were gone? Befriended the random stranger barista who works across from me and took photos with him'. Yeah, it was a bit mad . . . but hey, he got a photography buddy out of it!

* * *

Of course, the one thing that Noct specifically didn't want to happen, did. Much to his chagrin. It wasn't like he didn't see it coming though, the weather had been threatening to turn for the last couple of days - and yet somehow, he was still caught off guard when he woke up to the city being covered in a layer of snow with it still snowing heavily. Noct knew he was an oddball when it came to snow, most people loved the stuff.

Noct did not.

There was nothing worse in fact than having to face going out in snow. Wind he could deal with, rain wasn't too bad. But snow, somehow it managed to be a complete nightmare regardless of what he was wearing. Even if he wore the most waterproof boots, his feet always managed to get soaked. No matter how many layers he wore the cold still managed to get right through to the bone. Snow, in Noct's most humble opinion, was the absolute worst thing ever. Thankfully it only really came around once a year - he could never deal with it more than that.

**Work** [9:30]: Manager and SP can't make it through the snow, shop's not opening today.

The message was like music to Noct's ears and provided him with more than enough excuses to stay in bed. There was something comforting about bed on a cold day, especially since he could feel the chill lingering outside of his nice warm duvet. No thanks. So not having to go to work gave him more reason to just hide away from the weather. It was kind of an issue. Noct knew himself that it was, for years, without fail the winter just came down on him - hard. Harder than most normal people might feel. The constant coldness settles deep within his body and stayed there, growing and festering like some sort of disease.

The colder and more miserable the weather, the shorter and darker the days got - the worse Noct felt. There were some days that living just felt impossible and staying in bed and hiding from the worries of the day felt like the best option.

It was kind of terrible.

**Prompto** [10:23]: Snow day! Woo xD

At least somebody was happy about the weather - even if he couldn't enjoy the weather himself, he could at least try and not drag other down with him. He might have been pretty much a perpetual grump for most of the winter, but that didn't mean that everybody was. Eventually Noct dragged himself out of bed, wrapping the blanket that usually lay at the bottom around himself like a shawl. It dragged along the floor more like a cape, but it kept the chill away until the heating worked the make the flat a little more liveable.

Turning on the kettle to boil, Noct went and sat by the window looking out over the city. There was one thing snow did - it hid all the muck and grim from the everyday and everything looked so fresh and new. Much brighter than normal as the sun bounced off the whiteness of the ground - and yet, Noct couldn't bring himself to care.

Once the kettle was boiled, Noct made himself a cup of coffee and continued to stare out of the window, trying to will himself into feeling a little bit more human (the coffee was working somewhat, but not fast enough). He didn't know how long he had been staring out of the window listlessly until the phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Are you in at the moment?" It was Iggy, which Noct wasn't expecting - he had half expected work to call him or text him at some point to say the shop was opening and he had to come in. It was a prospect that Noct hadn't enjoyed so hearing Iggy's voice on the other side of the phone was a nice comfort.

"Yeah, how come?"

"I thought you were meant to be working today?" He sounded confused which was fair enough since Noct had previously said he was to be working - but obviously that had changed.

"I was, got cancelled because the manager and supervisor couldn't make it in. So I'm not complaining," Noct pulled the blanket, that he was still wrapped up in, tighter around himself. He was oddly enjoying just sitting by the window, just watching the world roll by knowing he didn't need to step foot out there made him feel a tiny bit better. It didn't completely cure the feeling inside, but it wasn't as bad as when he had woken up that morning (maybe the sun being up had something to do with that fact).

"So, you wouldn't mind if I came up then?"

"No, why would I?" Both Gladio and Iggy tended to drop by whenever - not always calling ahead of time, so the question caught Noct off guard ever so slightly and left a weird feeling behind.

"No reason, I'll see you shortly then?"

"Yeah, okay."

Noct didn't even manage to utter out a simple goodbye before Iggy had hung up on him. With the arrival of Iggy being imminent (since there was a slight chance he was simply outside already) Noct heaved himself up from his window side perch to change into something a bit more socially acceptable and not remain curled up by the window.

Noct had managed to make his small flat a bit more presentable looking by the time that Iggy had buzzed himself into the place. Noct, meanwhile, had sat himself down on his couch as though he hadn't just been staring out the window for a few hours.

"Enjoying the snow?" Noct asked as Iggy walked in, taking his wet boots off and placing under the heater to dry off.

"Not any more than a regular person."

Noct was internally glad he wasn't the only person who seemed to dislike snow – though, for Noct it was a reminder of proper misery, whilst for Iggy it was more of an inconvenience (especially in regards to how it messed up his work schedule) rather than something that he deeply detested because it completely threw his life off mentally and physically. So, not entirely the same but close enough.

"So who's Prompto then?" Ignis asked, having only taken a few steps into the living room and the abruptness of it made Noct head snap up in confusion.

"What? I . . ." Then the realisation his Noct and he rolled his eyes, flopping sideways onto the couch, rolling to face the back before rolling back and sitting up to study Iggy carefully who hadn't so much as moved during the whole act, instead he wore the same sort of look that Gladio had the other day when he had asked about Noct's new found friendship with another human being that wasn't Gladio or Ignis. "Let me guess, you were talking to Gladio? Weren't you?"

"I may have been."

Noct could have sunk into the material of his couch. "Why can't I just have a life without you two gossiping behind it?"

It was really quite frustrating at times – for the most part, his friends weren't particularly bothered by what went on in Noctis's life. He went to university, studied and didn't do much else. So, in a way, it made sense that they were suddenly ridiculously interested in this new person who had wormed their way into Noct's life. But, at the same time, it was without a doubt the absolute worst.

Seriously.

"We were not gossiping Noct, we were simply discussing things."

He could have laughed at how absurd and ridiculous that sounded, discussing somebody's personal life without letting said person know what, 100% without a doubt – gossiping and Noct wasn't an idiot.

"Yeah, things that happened to be my life. I am allowed to have other friends other than you guys, it's not criminal."

"So who is Prompto then?"

It was like having a really bad case of déjà vu. Dropping his head into his hands, Noct took a couple of deep breaths – there was no point in trying to deny or hide anything because he also knew that Iggy was not fooled. The guy was just too damn smart and could read Noct like a book, as cliché as it might have seemed.

It was true.

But that might of came from the fact that they had known each other so long – it was both a blessing and a curse. Noct cared for Iggy really deeply, but sometimes he really wished the guy just didn't . . .

"Like I said to Gladio, he's just a guy who works close to me and we happened to start talking - that's about that really."

"I know you and you do not just talk to people randomly."

Fuck.

That was just rude, low blow from Ignis and Noct could hear the smirk in his voice even if it wasn't present on his face. His invisible smirk which was honestly probably worse than actually just having it openly smirk or laugh in the same way that Gladio would

He'd much rather take the actual open mockery than something hidden. It was for easier to digest that way and didn't make Noct feel like he was being interrogated quite as much – because Iggy tended to give off that vibe even when he was being perfectly pleasant.

It was a little uncanny.

"Okay - he started talking to me. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"It's nice that you're making friends Noct," Iggy replied offhandedly, ignoring the look of indignation that was written across his face. "Do you want lunch made?"

"Is that all you want to say to me!"

Iggy stuck his head around the door of the kitchen and smiled. "More or less."

Noct was at a loss for words. Flopping down onto the couch he stared up at the ceiling. Between Ignis weird half interrogation and the fact that it was snowing outside – he was just done, and the day had barely begun.

How was he going to survive the next 2 months of winter?

* * *

**Stay tuned for Part 4!  
Thank you for reading**


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

* * *

Prompto was actually really excited. It wasn't so much because of the photography, mostly because he was getting to share it with somebody else and maybe then they'd also be interested in it. So no, the photography - for once - wasn't the thing that Prompto was excited for. It was also the prospect of doing something that wasn't working or sitting indoors, which had been the case since it had begun snowing a few days prior.

And Prompto couldn't be happier.

It had been threatening to snow for a few weeks, but always just became sleet and left everything mushy and generally disgusting. But it had properly snowed - a layer of white blanketed the country and for once it hadn't caused everything to grind to a halt (that badly). And now, he was going to get to take some photos with a friend(?) in the snow. It was a good day.

Noctis [13:45]: Is it okay if we meet at 2:30?

He was already on the subway towards the park they had agreed to meet at, maybe five or ten minutes out, but it didn't bother him too much. He'd be able to get a little bit of photography in on his own - just to warm up and whatnot.

Prompto [13:48]: Yeah, that's fine.

It had been a long time since he had been on the inner city subway and all the stops were basically foreign to him. He'd got instructions from Noct on how to get from the city centre to the park on the subway, but Prompto couldn't remember the exact stop he was meant to get off at - was it the third or the fourth?

Taking a wild guess, Prompto got off and after exiting the subway instantly knew that he had chosen incorrectly. He knew he was close to the university; he could see the towers from the entrance to the subway, but it was a trendy area, mostly bars, cafes and the various buildings belonging to the university dotted in between.

Blessedly outside of the subway there was a map of the surrounding area and, sure enough, the stop he had got off at was the one before he was meant to get. It might have been walking distance from that stop to the park, but it looked quite far on the map (Prompto knew himself that he wasn't the best at working out actual to scale distance using a map) and instead, backtracked into the subway to wait on the next train.

"I'm so stupid," Prompto thought to himself, he had no idea when the next train was as the board displaying the times had decided to shut itself down and since he had just got off the train, it would probably be at least 10 to 15 minutes.

So much for getting there early.

Eventually, the next train came screaming out of the darkened tunnel - the subway never ceased to scare him just ever so slightly. It was less than 10 minutes to the next stop, but with all the faffing around - Prompto found himself much closer to the reworked meeting time. So, instead of going and using the spare time, he stood at the entrance to the park waiting for Noct to finally arrive.

Which didn't take long - Noct came walking up the street in a thick dark jacket and wrapped up in a long scarf, looking far more tired than somebody rightfully should have at half past 2 in the afternoon. His dark attire stood out against the stark white of the world around him.

"Sorry I'm late," Noct said awkwardly.

"It's fine, I only just got here."

"How come?" Noct asked, looking a little confused

"I got off at the wrong stop, I was one early and had to wait on the next train." It sounded so stupid when he had to explain it out loud - normally he could keep his stupidity to himself.

"You could have walked, it's a 15 minute walk from that stop, maybe a little longer," Noct explained as they began to head inside the park, aimlessly following the different paths.

"Oh right, I had no idea," Prompto replied a little airily.

"I take it you're not up here that often then?" Noct was smiling, clearly amused at the blonde's response and Prompto smiled in return.

"Not really, sometimes in the summer if the weather is nice but not really." It was true, he did go into town every so often, but stayed around the city centre and the shops, not really going much further than that. He himself lived in one of the outskirts areas of the city, but he never really bothered to explore many others - he never had any reason to. The north of the city was mostly university territory and since he didn't go to that specific university - he really had no reason to go there.

"Fair enough, can't say I go out of town much either. Unless I'm going home, I suppose."

"You living in student accommodation?"

They were mostly walking around in circles by that point, leaving tracks in the mostly pristine snow. Prompto expected there to be more people out enjoying the weather since it was snowy but not snowing and just on the right side of cold to not be that uncomfortable - but for the most part, it was pretty dead aside from a few dog walkers and people with little kids who were clearly too young for school or nursery.

But listening to Noct talk and being able to talk in return wasn't a bad thing either. In fact, it was actually rather nice.

"No, I have my own place, but my dad's place isn't like crazy far away."

"Do you like living on your own?"

Prompto had to keep reminding himself that moving out was what he was aiming to do, all (well, almost all) of the money he was making with his job was going towards a moving out fund.

"Eh, it's alright. Sometimes it would be nice to not have to cook or do my own washing," Noct said with a sheepish grin, realising that what he said sounded incredibly stuck up or just a little bit selfish and Prompto couldn't help but laugh a little in response.

"Small things you take for granted."

It was true - even in the short time his parents had been away, doing basic things that somebody else did, like cooking dinner or doing the washing, became somewhat tedious.

Noct didn't say anything and just nodded in response looking down towards the snow. For a moment Prompto didn't know if it was his imagination or just the way the sun was bouncing off the snow, but seeing Noct hiding a small smile in the bundle of fabric that was his scarf, nose peeking out and just slightly red was kind of . . . cute, and Prompto couldn't seem to take his eyes off him

"Do you want to go down towards the river?" Noct asked suddenly.

"Huh? Oh. Oh! Yeah, sure," Prompto had been brought out of his stupor, sharply looking away from Noct, following him down the snow covered woodland pathway. The steps were cut into the dirt, pressed together with wood and Prompto had to stop himself from holding onto Noct so he wouldn't slip on the way down.

After all, he didn't want to break his camera.

Once they had made it safely down to the riverside pathway, they walked along to a bridge that crossed over the river.

"Hang on, stop a second," Prompto asked once they were in the middle of the bridge. It wasn't cold enough for the river to be completely frozen, but around the edges, there were chunks of ice that occasionally broke off and floated by. Pulling his camera out of his bag, he began to take photos of his surroundings.

"Do you come down here often," Prompto asked between photos, flicking through the ones he'd taken, deleting any that hadn't really worked out.

"You'd think, but not really."

Noct was leaning against the railings of the bridge, leaving forearm shaped dents in the previously untouched snow. He was staring out at the river but not at anything specifically - just kind of watching. For a moment, Prompto took his eyes off the river and looked round to Noct, having the fleeting idea to take a photo of him as he stood serene in the winter air.

"Shame, it's so pretty down here," Prompto looked back to the river. "But I suppose it's like any park really."

"Mhm, I guess so."

"Oh, um, do you want to have a shot?" He held out the camera towards Noct, suddenly very acutely aware that he had kind of just left Noct to stand and watch him take photos whilst he stood about and did not much else.

That definitely wasn't his intention.

"You sure, you seem to be . . . very much in your element." He did a little handwavy motion towards the camera and river, clearly struggling to find the right words to accurately describe what he thought.

"I don't want you to just be watching me the whole time . . . that wouldn't be very fun."

It was true, there was nothing worse than doing something and just having somebody stand by and watch. It was like going out to dinner and the second person sitting on their phone the entire time - it was fine for a moment or two, but after that, it was just kind of rude.

And Prompto didn't want to come across as rude - he wanted to show Noct that he totally did have some sort of artistic talent and the only way to do that was to actually have him take some photos.

"Here, have a go."

"Honestly, it's fine. I don't mind," Noct seemed rather flustered at the prospect of a camera thrust towards him, throwing his hands up - he smiled sheepishly, shaking his head and Prompto couldn't help but think it was just a little bit adorable.

"Seriously, here, have a shot." Prompto, reaching out to grab Noct's hand, pressed the camera into it. Either the gesture or the camera itself seemed to leave Noct in a state of confusion as he looked between the device and out towards the river.

"What . . . What am I meant to be taking a picture of?"

"Whatever you want. It doesn't have to be any specific thing, just something you think looks nice."

"Um, okay then."

Prompto couldn't help but notice that Noct seemed unnecessarily cautious towards taking photos. He looked around, seemingly trying to find something to take photos off, before choosing a random direction and taking a picture.

He repeated the same process a few times before looking back at Prompto as though expecting the blonde to say something or comment on what he was doing.

"How do you do have a look at what you've taken?"

Prompto laughed. "You really haven't used DSLR's before, have you?" Noct shook his head. Stepping closer to Noct, Prompto placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning over to point at the camera. "You hit this button."

For a few moments, they flicked through the photos that Noct had taken.

"What do you think?" Prompto asked expectedly and Noct looked up, a little blank faced and confused.

"It looks like a picture . . ."

Huh, well, that wasn't exactly the response that Prompto thought he would get. He understood that not everybody was as excited by photography as he was - but he expected a little bit more . . . oomph to it.

Maybe he was just expecting too much. Laughing a little, Prompto looked back down to the photos.

"Well yeah, but are you happy with them?"

"I think so?" Noct sounded so unsure that it both made Prompto feel a little bit sad but also kind of made him laugh as well. Why was he so stunned by the concept of art. "Sorry, I'm not really sure if I'm meant to be looking for something or what?"

"You're not really meant to be looking for anything . . . it's . . . It's kind of hard to explain, like, you're just meant to know."

That was the thing when it came to art related things, people were just meant to know - regardless of talent or anything like that. Since art was subjective and all that, regardless of what it was the creator should be able to say whether or not they liked what they made. And photography was probably the easiest since it provided the most instant gratification in regard to the finished pieces.

Sure things could be touched up in different programs but for the most part - the finished product was there in a matter of seconds. But Noct just seemed bewildered and it confused Prompto to no end - what was Noct looking for?

"Told you I have no artistic talent."

"No! I refuse to believe that!" Prompto said breaking into a smile - he would be damned to let Noct go on thinking he had no artistic talent of any kind. That was just unbelievable and Prompto was determined to show him so!

For the next while, the pair walked around the park taking photos and talking. Prompto continued to try and get Noct to take some photos too just to prove to him that he wasn't completely artistically inept - eventually thought, Prompto began to notice Noct shivering as he rejected taking any photos more and more.

"Are you cold?" Prompto asked, even though he knew it was obvious that Noct was.

"No, it's fine."

"You sure, we can leave if you're cold." He wasn't too fussed; he'd got some photos out of it and had (forced) Noct to get some as well. It had been an hour or so, it wasn't like it had been a wasted trip and Prompto wasn't about to let Noct lie just because he didn't want Prompto to feel bad about being cold or not enjoying himself or whatever the reason might be.

It just wasn't how things were done

"Honestly, it's fine, it's still early - it would be a waste," Noct insisted, throwing his hands up before burying his face into his scarf, somewhat resembling a turtle hiding away in its shell. It was honestly kind of adorable.

Prompto rolled his eyes, he didn't really want to go home just yet - he was enjoying himself. Hanging out with Noct was kind of fun, but he also kind of worried that what he was doing was annoying Noct. Like he was just sticking around because Prompto expected him too.

Thoughts like that could just fuck off.

"Well is there somewhere we could go? Somewhere indoors maybe . . . if you want."

Maybe they were just as bad as each other - Noct seemed insistent that he didn't want to leave. But it was obvious he was cold and Prompto knew that being out in the cold for excessive amounts of time could really wear a person down. He didn't want to force the situation - if Noct wanted to leave that was fine. It wasn't a wasted day or anything, they could always hang out again sometime.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

That would be nice. On the other side, Prompto just wanted to be as pleasant as possible. He knew himself that he came on strong sometimes - sure he was likeable and generally outgoing, but not everybody responded to that and it sometimes came off as annoying . . . god if that was what happened. Prompto wanted to find a hole and lie in it.

"Yeah, there are loads of cafes and stuff around here. I know a place that does really good crepe cakes," Noct suggested with a smile.

Oh, well. That was good.

Did that mean that Noct wasn't not enjoying himself? Did he want to continue hanging out? Or was he just saying that? Prompto had no idea and no way of telling, so instead he put a brave face on and tried not to let the anxious thoughts that were slowly crowing into his mind let him get dragged down too much.

Things were going well.

"I've never tried that before. Do you want to head off then?"

"Only if you don't mind," Noct replied absentmindedly kicking at the snow, hands now shoved deeply into his jacket pockets.

"It's fine, my hands are getting quite cold anyway."

That wasn't a lie, Prompto had stupidly neglected to bring gloves with him and over time the cold had begun to bite at the tips of his fingers. They had gone a slightly ugly colour of pink and were slowly losing feeling in them.

It was probably a good time to retreat into some warmth. A hot chocolate wouldn't go amiss probably.

"Okay, cool."

The pair headed off out of the park, Prompto following Noct with a warm feeling growing in his chest.

* * *

Noct knew the walk like the back of his hand but he also was consciously aware that it was a little out of the way, especially walking from the park - and in the snow of all things. They had been talking beforehand but had lapsed into silence a short while ago and Noct couldn't help but worry that he was doing something wrong or Prompto was getting annoyed at the walk - the blonde showed no signs of irritation but that didn't stop Noct from thinking about it nonetheless.

"It's not too far from here," he said reassuringly, breaking the silence. Prompto shot him back a smile.

"Okay, cool."

That made Noct feel a little better, but it still didn't stop the worries entirely. People were excellent liars and Prompto could very easily be putting on his cheery disposition. He tried not to think about it too much though, he wasn't out to drag the mood down with his own general dullness that liked to spring up from time to time. He was out, with a new friend, having a good time and wouldn't let stupid worried ruin it (even though it most definitely was trying to).

Not to long after though, the pair rounded the corner and the cafe stuck out like a sore thumb. Amongst the grey and browns of the other buildings, the cafe was painted in a pastel pink, white around the windows with a pastel blue door and lace curtains in the window. It wasn't the sort of place that Noct looked like he belonged - he sort of looked like some sort of dark invader in his head to toe black clothing. But it wasn't the aesthetics that he went for.

And the place was definitely aesthetic inside, set up for the sort of people who posted cute food photos or whatever. Not exactly Noct's scene - but the food was worth it.

"This place is so cute," Prompto said looking around, following behind Noct towards the counter.

"Yeah, it is," Noct replied quietly.

"Ah, these look amazing!" Prompto said, eyeing up the various cakes in the glass cabinet.

Everything was very pastel and aesthetic to match the rest of the cafe, but the way Prompto took everything in made it seem like he had never seen a cake in his life. For Noct, it was mildly entertaining to watch - particularly as he was in every so often, he'd seen it all before. Prompto was very intently glancing between the cakes which gave him the same air as a child in a sweet shop having a hard time choosing between their favourites when they had been told they could only have one.

"So you've really never had a crepe cake before?" Noct asked and Prompto looked up, smiling a little before glancing back to the cakes before him.

"No, but I've seen them online and they look really cool. I've never actually had one, not many places sell them y'know."

Noct nodded in response, it wasn't exactly something that was widely made since they were sort of a pain in the backside to make - mostly tedious and who had time for that, not many people apparently. But it was one of those viral things, so it made sense that Prompto would have only seen it online somewhere.

Stepping closer, Noct had a look for what he might pick, but found his appetite lacking a little. Instead, he decided to go for something to warm him up since despite being indoors, he couldn't help but still be oddly cold. The heat never did like sticking with him, instead, he always found it hard to get warm and stay warm. The only time his body heat decided to function was when he was wrapped up in more layers than a normal person could conceivably need.

Which was a real pain when said layers had to be taken off for particular circumstances.

"You decided what you're going to get?"

"Yeah," Prompto pointed to a cake at the end, it was rainbow with white icing in between the delicate layers of crepe. If Noct had been feeling more hungry he might have been tempted, instead he ordered a single hot chocolate.

"They'll be brought over to you, please take a seat," the lady at the counter, who Noct couldn't help but notice look way happier than anybody he worked with - including himself. Apparently it was possible to actually enjoy your job.

Which was something Noct certainly didn't do.

Prompto and Noct chose a seat close to the window - it wasn't like there was any particular reason. As cute and cosy as the cafe itself was, the street outside was just as grey and dismal as any other in the city - if it was possible, even more so. Whilst the snow covered a lot of the grime, the cars going by kind of ruined the aesthetic as the snow piled up along the street was grey, brown and mushy.

It was kind of depressing to look at. Prompto, however, seemed to enjoy it as Noct notice he kept looking out of the window, watching the light flurry of snow that had started with a sense of child like awe.

Instead of trying to start any sort of conversation, Noct just sat in silence for a minute or two before their orders had been brought to them. The cake being place in front of him seemed to bring Prompto back from his daydream and he stared the cake down with a sight of pure glee before taking his camera out and taking a few photos of it.

"I'd love to learn how to make something like this, I don't exactly have stellar cooking or baking skills. I've been surviving on oven food and take away for the last couple of weeks. Good thing I go running a lot," Prompto said before happily taking a bite of the cake, a look of sheer happiness exploding across his face and Noct couldn't help but smile.

Then a thought struck him.

"How come?" Noct asked before taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"How come what?"

"You said you're surviving on oven food and takeaways. Do you not normally?" Noct couldn't tell if it counted as prying or what, he was just a little bit curious since the wording of it was a little bit odd. That was all, but if Prompto felt it was prying, fair enough he'd back off.

Simple as that.

"Well no, my mum usually cooks. But my parents are away on holiday until after the new year, so y'know, surviving," Prompto replied lightly, shrugging his shoulders before going back to his cake.

"You still live with your parents then?"

The moment it came out of his mouth, Noct had regrets. He didn't know if it was the words themselves or the tone - at least how it sounded to him - came across as a little bit judgemental. He internally (and maybe externally too) cringed - but Prompto seemed unphased, instead he smiled and nodded.

"I got to uni in town so I didn't have any reason to move into student accommodation or anything. But I've only got this semester left so I'm saving money to move out. Not sure when but hopefully soon. If I get a job once I'm done with uni that would make it easier."

Noct nodded, he knew what it felt like to move out. Admittedly, he did it because he wanted a little bit of independence and freedom (thought his living situation wasn't exactly what he would call free nor independent) but it was perhaps as close as he was going to get.

At least for some time - not that he grudged it too much.

"Oh right, yeah, fair enough. What uni do you go to?"

"You know the art school in the city centre?" Prompto asked, Noct nodded.

"Yeah, part of it burned down last summer didn't it?"

It had been a whole spectacle, the building was a couple of hundred years old - a staple of the city centre and the damn thing burned down. Well, not all of it, some of it. Enough that the city council thought it was going to be shut down. Noct, honestly, didn't care that much. He wasn't big on history and architectural significance was completely lost on him.

It was just a nice looking building that had lost some of its roof and a small section of the building itself. But that was about it.

"That it did. I go there, it's pretty much the same as before it burned but there are far less rooms than there normally would be. Which can be annoying when you're fighting with first years over rooms," Prompto said with a small laugh, somehow Noct could feel the slight edge that it had to it. He was clearly a little annoyed by having to share with first years.

Noct would have to agree, there was nothing worse than fighting first years over things. For the most part, he didn't have any reason to interact with them - he kept to himself for the most part. But there was nothing worse than trying to take a book out in the library and discovering it had been taken by an overzealous first year who was punching above their weight.

Then it was a little annoying.

"What about you, what do you do?" Prompto asked.

"At uni?"

"Yeah? If you're at uni that is, I just sort of assumed," Prompto paused. "Sorry."

" No, I am. You know the fancy looking one you probably saw getting off at the wrong station," Prompto nodded and Noct couldn't help but half smile. "I go there. I'm studying politics and international relations but I think I want to change it."

"Not enjoying it?" Prompto asked, seemingly genuinely interested in Noct's plight but for Noct himself it was very difficult to tell whether he was just being polite or actually cared.

"Not really, but I only have one more year left so if I wanted to do something different I could always just go back to college." It was something he had continuously thought about - probably more than he should - but at the same time going back to college just seemed like a waste of money since there was no guarantee he could ever truly decide what he wanted to do in life.

Why did life have to be so hard?

"It's kind of scary, right?" Prompto commented. "Being an adult is scary. I don't like it, take me back to before I had to decide my life for myself."

Noct nodded, it was hard t keep the growing smile off his face. "Tell me about it, kids have no idea how lucky they have it . . . But at the same time, being able to do whatever isn't too bad either."

"I want the combination - no future worries but the ability to self-govern your decisions and not have adults tell you what to do," Prompto replied, pausing for a moment. "Then again . . . even as an adult you have even more adult adults telling you what to do most of the time."

Again, Noct had to agree. "So sometimes it's just nice to stop and eat cake."

"I'll toast to that."

Prompto smiled, it was a bright, sun filled smile that filled Noct with a warm sense of ease and comfort. If only talking to everybody was as simple and pleasant as Prompto was.

* * *

**Stay tuned for Part 5!  
Thank you for reading**


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